Taylor Sheridan blasts TV execs and critics, says they know 'nothing'

"Dutton Ranch" is heading towards a tense Season 1 finale on July 3, but the fireworks have already started from executive producer Taylor Sheridan.

Sheridan, 56, used an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast" to sound off on story-clueless TV executives and his critics, while promoting his new survival guide, "How Not to Die in Prison" (co-written with Tom Nelson).

Sheridan, who created and wrote "Landman," said he enjoyed churning up critic outrage, citing Demi Moore's character Cami Miller as an example.

"The critics and me – I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the s--- out of them that I don’t care," Sheridan said. "I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit, and this is one of them. F--- ’em, honestly."

The interview during the finale week of the successful "Yellowstone" spinoff "Dutton Ranch" – with freshman drama “The Madison” and "Landman" Season 2 contending on the Emmy ballot – was well-timed to show the critics are still wrong in Sheridan's eyes.

Sheridan says he throws 'rage bait' to critics, like Demi Moore's Season 1 role

Even before "Landman" started, Sheridan knew the critics would object to the Cami Miller character, who was often lounging around the pool while her billionaire husband, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), did the work.

Sheridan predicted that "the critics are going to come after me. I’m underutilizing [Moore], can’t write for women, all this nonsense," he said.

But the critics were just being set up for Moore's Season 2 transition, after Monty's Season 1 finale heart failure death.

"Then I’m going to kill your husband, and you’re going to have to run the oil company," Sheridan said of the TV twist he had planned for Cami.

Sheridan, who has signed a blockbuster film and TV deal with NBCUniversal – beginning with films in 2026 and television in 2029 after his Paramount TV deal expires – took veiled shots at Paramount TV executives in the podcast interview.

Sheridan's beef: After the legendary Robert Evans left Paramount Studios, the following generations of studio executives knew "nothing" about story.

"It didn’t used to be this way when Steve McQueen was a movie star at Paramount, and Bobby Evans ran the studio because writers were turned loose. Directors were turned completely loose," Sheridan said. "There weren’t endless rewrites. There weren’t meetings with executives about tone and mood and all this nonsense."

USA TODAY has reached out to reps at Paramount Studios for comment.

Paramount executives stay out of Sheridan's show: 'This is not a democracy'

Sheridan called studio executives and Paramount network brass "marketing executives, for the most part."

"They came, got a job in the mailroom at CAA or WME, and hated that," Sheridan said. "So then they ended up as an intern at some network. Then, through attrition, they find themselves the head of development. What do you know about developing story? You know nothing. So they get terrified, panicked that the audience won’t get it. Because they actually have no storytellers."Sheridan has fought off the executives by making it clear he runs his own TV universe – right down to writing most of his own scripts solo. His golden touch with popular hits – from "Tulsa King" to "Lioness" – has kept the executives at bay.

“This is not a democracy. There’s no committee. You’re going to pay me and you’re going to give me a bunch of money and I’m going to deliver you these shows," said Sheridan. "I’m pretty common and I’m going to tell stories that common people are going to understand. That’s most of America."

Sheridan on award nominations: 'I'm not trying to win Emmys'

The Sheridan universe is generally overlooked for Emmy nominations, with no major category nominations or wins. But Sheridan says he's OK with that.

“You’re not going to win Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys. That’s not my goal," he said. "My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare them, excite them. That’s what I want to do, because that’s what I want from a show."

Sheridan won't go back to LA, saying movie and TV mecca is 'built on sand'

Sheridan has moved production for his shows to his massive studio complex outside of Fort Worth, Texas. The one-time Los Angeles-based character actor said he has no interest in going back to Hollywood.

"The only way you’re getting me back to Los Angeles is if it secedes from the union and I’m drafted into the Army to take it back. It’s the only way,” Sheridan said. “I love New York. That city’s way, way stronger than whatever political wind is blowing it in any direction. Whereas L.A. is built on sand.”